The Packers are set to honor former wide receiver and Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee Sterling Sharpe in a special ceremony at halftime of Thursday’s Packers-Commanders game. During the ceremony, Sharpe’s name will be unveiled on the southeast façade inside Lambeau Field, alongside the names of fellow Packers enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Sharpe will also be presented with his Pro Football Hall of Fame Ring of Excellence.
While a neck injury ultimately ended his career, Sharpe was incredibly durable. In seven seasons with the Packers, he never missed a game.
Sharp had the uncanny ability to get open in opposing secondaries. At 6’0” and 207 pounds, he was difficult to for defensive backs to bring down.
Sharpe was always the focal point of the Green Bay offense when he was with the team. First Don Majkowski, then a young Brett Favre relied heavily on Sharpe to keep the chains moving.
The Packers were just starting to become a consistent winner when Sharpe’s career ended. He appeared in just two playoff games, both coming after the 1993 season. He rose the occasion and shined in both games. Against Detroit, he caught five passes for 101 yards and three touchdowns. That included the game-winning score in the final minute on a 40-yard heave from Favre.
One week later, the Packers fell to the Cowboys in the NFC Divisional Playoffs, but Sharpe again played well, catching six passes for 128 yards and another score. He played both games with a bad case of turf toe but still gutted it out and helped his team win one game and keep the other close.
The Packers made the playoffs in 1994, Sharpe’s final campaign, but he missed the playoff game due to the injury that ultimately ended his career.
Then there were the memorable moments during the regular season. The Instant Replay Game against the Bears in 1989 was won on a fourth down, last minute pass from Majkowski to Sharpe.
Twice, Sharpe caught four touchdown passes in a game. In his final NFL game, he caught three touchdowns to help the Packers beat the Bucs.
Opposing coaches took notice of Sharpe. Tony Dungy, who served as the Vikings defensive coordinator during Sharpe’s time with the Packers, heaped praise on his formidable opponent. “There are a lot of great receivers out there, but only a few who are special,” Dungy told the Packers 1993 Yearbook. “His commitment, his will to win, his desire to be the best…That’s what makes him special.”
Jon Gruden, who was an assistant coach with the Packers during part of Sharpe’s NFL career added, “The guy’s at his best when the chips are on the table and the game is on the line…That’s when Sterling Sharpe is at his best.”
Perhaps his brother Shannon summed up Sterling’s Hall of Fame credentials when he praised his older brother at his own induction to the Hall of Fame back in 2011, “I am the only person in the Hall of Fame that can say I was the second-best player in my own family.”